Discovering awe and calm at RAKxa in Thailand
Anna Pasternak reviews a gut health programme at a retreat near Bangkok, where she discovers east-meets-west treatments, banging Feng Shui and a haze of bliss
From the moment I entered the RAKxa complex on an island south-east of Bangkok, I felt like a billionaire’s wife seeking sanctuary. The feeling of manicured affluence, the exquisite tropical planting, the Aman-level pared-down comfort of the private villas, which are the only form of accommodation, and the stream of attentive staff was heaven for a luxury-lover like me.
“RAKxa is special. It’s expensive and exclusive but it brims with soul. The intent behind this resort is tangible. To bring you back to the best version of yourself”
The vision of RAKxa is admirable; 400,000 trees and bushes were imported into an 80-acre estate to create a nature reserve, with a vast man-made lake as the central focal point. With the mighty Chao Praya River flowing on one side and the lake in the middle, and the skyline of Bangkok silhouetted in the distance, you feel that the Feng Shui here is banging.
Everything is so artfully curated; it is like staying at an Asian Bamford. The dining room is a vision of pale rattan and chinoiserie. There are four main buildings that house where you eat, work out, have medical treatments and enjoy holistic therapies. All are beautiful with a stylish minimalism. There’s also a tea house - RAXka Chai - a glass-walled space overlooking the river. You are given bicycles to navigate the grounds, which fosters healthy independence as opposed to endlessly summoning golf buggies.
The premise here is that they blend medical, Thai, Chinese and Indian modalities to maximise healing. Your wellness assistant, who greets you on arrival, is like your personal health butler, arranging your treatment schedule, and re-arranging it according to your emotional and physical progress. Nok, my wellness assistant, was an efficient heavenly angel who intuited what I needed before I even knew it.
After a lengthy consultation with her on arrival, and then with the medical doctor, when I articulated that my goals were to lose weight and feel more energised, I had a further consultation with the Indian ayurvedic doctor. He diagnosed my disturbed doshas, gave me invaluable pranayama breathing exercises to cool my over-revved system and said that I needed to reduce the ama (toxins) in my body. He suggested that I eat no raw food for two months and drink pomegranate juice.
I felt completely nurtured when the waitress appeared at supper an hour later with a glass of pomegranate juice. This is how they roll at RAKxa - constant updates between the staff mean that each therapist knows exactly where you are at and what to work on. Profoundly soothing, this synchronisation fosters trust and letting go.
Baan, the chef – who produced the best food I have experienced in nearly 40 years of spa trekking – was equally knowledgeable about gut health. The food, which was calorie counted to 1500 a day and included organic fish, chicken and meat, was worth the flight alone. A typical lunch was a starter of minced chicken and tiger prawn salad, followed by seabass and oriental vegetables, with a coconut milk and chia seed pudding. Each guest has a personally curated menu and individual teas at every mealtime to support their healing. They would bring a fresh brew of herbs and explain: “This is for your digestion to warm your stomach.” Or bloating. Or immunity. Or to strengthen your heart. These cleansing elixirs are a USP of RAKxa and seem to uphold an alchemical shift.
The physical trainers, yoga teachers and sports therapists are simply outstanding. Their knowledge of the body is encyclopaedic. During my functional fitness test, included in the gut health programme that I had elected to do, I learned that I lean more to the right than my left. Who knew? And while my core is good, I need to work on my stability and muscle power. I relished the individual yoga and reformer Pilates sessions because they were so impressive. In a yoga session with Rock, minute adjustments took me into stretches that I had never done before. Afterwards I felt awed and calm, while released on a new level.
In between the treatment schedule, which can veer towards the over-crowded, there is a stunning hydrotherapy area and Scandi chic relaxation room. Scented with grounding vetiver, both overlook the huge lake. The view is mesmeric and helps you cultivate stillness and attentiveness.
My five-day programme whizzed by in a haze of bliss. I slept through the best Chi Nei Tsang I have ever had, was left in a trance after a lymph drainage massage and wept following the Angel Stone facial. This, administered with feather light touch, used crystals to depuff my face and reduce my headache tendencies. However, the funniest treatment to alleviate migraines was Thalapothichil, an ayurvedic treatment to remove heat from the head. After a cold paste of Chinese gooseberry is lathered on your head, you sit with a giant lotus leaf on your head, through which they pour pitta-soothing oil. After a 30-minute neck massage, they take you to their pristine hair salon, where I had the best shampoo of my life. Something shifted energetically, as I felt lighter and cleansed afterwards.
Less enjoyable was my colonic irrigation, but I stayed with it, thinking of the colon-cleansing helping the absorption of nutrients in the body. After four days, having dropped over a kilo in weight, I also accessed something more valuable - a renewed sense of self. Having sat with a lotus leaf on my head, had acupuncture administered while receiving an IV drip (a sophisticated combination of East meets West and an ingenious use of time) and been mesmerised by nature, I connected to a profound inner stillness.
I also picked up some invaluable health tips to take home. RAKxa is special. It’s expensive and exclusive but it brims with soul. The intent behind this resort is tangible. To bring you back to the best version of yourself.
